In the field of dentistry, a patient's teeth may be polished by a dental practitioner. Polishing may be performed by using a soft rubber cup filled with an abrasive agent that spins on the end of a hand-piece. The hand-piece and the soft rubber cup may together be referred to as a prophylaxis angle for the purposes of this disclosure. The abrasive agent may also be referred to as a prophylaxis (prophy) paste. The prophy paste is a gritty toothpaste-like material that is stored in the prophylaxis cup that is spun around on the teeth to make the teeth shiny and smooth. In certain situations, the prophy paste may include a pumice-based formula and may be available in a variety of grits from fine to extra-coarse.
Certain dental treatments first use a prophy paste (abrasive agent) for polishing the teeth. During the course of a dental treatment, the dental practitioner may switch out prophylaxis cups repeatedly to use prophy pastes of different grits for polishing the teeth.
Subsequent to polishing the teeth, a whitening agent may be applied on the teeth for whitening the teeth. In certain situations, the whitening agent may comprise carbamide peroxide, where the carbamide peroxide breaks down in the mouth to form hydrogen peroxide. In other situations hydrogen peroxide may be directly used as a whitening agent. Many other types of whitening agents may be used to whiten teeth. Activating agents that enhance the whitening effects of hydrogen peroxide in combination with natural enzymes have also been proposed. Additionally, the beneficial effects of chemical catalysts added to whitening agents have been demonstrated in clinical research in dentistry.